From Syria to Libya to Georgia, Putin's grip on his global empire is loosening. Thus far only Turkey and Israel benefit. Will the West rise to the occasion too?

Behrouz Esbati said he partially blamed Russia for the fall of Assad's government, in a rare break from Iran's official line on Syria.

Assad's regime, Russia lost a key all in the Middle East - but it still hopes to keeps its military bases in Syria.

An Assad official claims Putin betrayed his ally by promising support that never came.

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor Karim Khan met with Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria's new leader, to discuss options for pursuing justice for the victims of torture and war crimes perpetrated by the regime of ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

With an Israel-Hamas cease-fire set to begin, the shock waves from their war have reshaped the region in unexpected ways.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian deepened military ties between their countries on Friday by signing a 20-year strategic partnership that is likely to worry the West.

Highlights: Iran, Russia sign strategic treaty Move likely to worry West Both suffer setbacks in Middle East Iranian drones used in Ukraine war Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday signed a 20-year strategic partnership treaty involving closer defence cooperation that is likely to worry the West.

The Russian president said that Russia is ready to "continue supporting the Syrian people in stabilizing the situation, providing urgent humanitarian aid and launching full-scale post-conflict reconst

The presidents of Russia and Iran have signed a broad cooperation pact to deepen their partnership amid stinging Western sanctions

A new alliance has been signed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin with Iran with the partnership including defence coming just three days before Donald Trump is sworn in as US president